The heart-spotted
woodpecker (Hemicircus canente) is a species of bird in the woodpecker family. They have a contrasting black and white pattern, a distinctively
stubby body with a large wedge-shaped head making them easy to identify while
their frequent calling make them easy to detect as they forage for
invertebrates under the bark of the slender outer branches of trees. They move
about in pairs or small groups and are often found in mixed-species
foraging flocks. They have a wide distribution across Asia with populations in the forests of southwestern and central India which are slightly separated from their ranges in the Himalayas and Southeast Asia.
A small, uniquely shaped,
black and buff woodpecker with a large crest making the head look large for the short body
and tail. Both males and females are predominantly black with heart-shaped
black spots on white shoulders with broad white scapular patches and barring of flight feathers. The female has the forehead and crown buffy
white while it is black on males. The throat is whitish and the underparts are
dark olive grey. A tuft of feathers on the back are specialized and are lipid
rich which causes the feathers to stick together in preserved specimens.
They feed mainly on
insects under bark but have been known to peck the pods of Cassia fistula to
obtain insect larvae. The
calls include a sharp twee-twee-twee (duet call) sometimes leading to a
trill of several notes, a nasal ki-yeew and repeated su-sie calls.
[info:wikipedia]
[info:wikipedia]
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